Politics

‘More bodyguards than Frank Sinatra’: When Blue Poles first toured, it was met with street protests. Now it’s crossing Australia

The Guardian Australia - Australian Politics · 29 August 2026 at 1:00 am

‘More bodyguards than Frank Sinatra’: When Blue Poles first toured, it was met with street protests. Now it’s crossing Australia

Bought by the then Australian prime minister, Gough Whitlam, for the yet-to-be-built National Gallery in Canberra, Jackson Pollock’s Blue Poles sparked one of Australia’s most enduring culture wars Moving Blue Poles is never straightforward.

At more than 2m high and nearly 5m long, the legendary Jackson Pollock painting has almost always been too big for wherever it needs to go.

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‘More bodyguards than Frank Sinatra’: When Blue Poles first toured, it was met with street protests. Now it’s crossing Australia

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